El Paso Chihuahuas GM to business group: Name has sparked interest

AAA team puts EP on map, Taylor says

Brad Tayor, left, General Manager for the El Paso Chihuahuas baseball team talks with Chris Diaz of B D Media following a forum for the new Triple-A baseball organization Friday at the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce.

Brad Taylor has no doubts that El Paso's new, initially maligned baseball team name is doing its job -- bringing El Paso attention and bringing smiles to people's faces.

The El Paso Chihuahuas name has garnered a lot of attention and a lot of team merchandise sales with a "unique, unusual, different name that nobody has," Taylor, general manager of El Paso's Triple-A minor league baseball team, told about 100 El Paso business and community leaders Friday during a talk at the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce.

The name usually elicits a smile from people "because it is either so fun, or so ridiculous and we are so stupid," he said. "But they smile, and that's what it's supposed to do.

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"It took us a week and a half to become the 12th ranked of 30 (Triple-A) teams" on Facebook, he said. "There have been teams in existence obviously since Facebook has been around that are still trying to figure out how to do that."

The team has more than 24,400 Facebook "likes."

The Chihuahuas' Downtown store is doing "exceptionally well," he said. Online, the team has sold Chihuahuas hats, shirts and other merchandise to people in 44 states, Washington, D.C., and five other countries, Taylor said.

Richard Dayoub, president of the El Paso chamber, which hosted Friday's "Meet the GM" session, said he saw the name working when he was in Washington, D.C., last week and the CEO of the Boise, Idaho chamber stopped him on the street. He gave Dayoub a hug and told him people in Boise are buzzing about the name, and buying Chihuahuas items, Dayoub said. Boise has a Single-A minor league baseball team named the Boise Hawks.

"Now, we have something everyone else wants, and we have to appreciate the gift we have been given," Dayoub said.

Taylor said he's filled with pride when he sees people wearing El Paso Chihuahuas items "that 1 months ago, you said, 'God, we're going to get hammered for this.' But we know it's the right thing because it's fun, and that's what it's about."

The team will engage companies, including maquiladora plants in Juárez, to get them to have special nights for their employees at the ballpark, he said. It also will have fundraising opportunities for schools and not-for-profit groups, he said.

Besides hosting 72 home Chihuahuas games, the stadium also will be available about 290 days out of the year for a variety of events, including high school baseball games, concerts, job fairs, and even quinceañeras, he said.

"This is the largest community center in El Paso," he said. He didn't give specifics on charges for using the stadium for special events.

Game ticket prices will range from $5 for a grass berm area, to more than $30 for an air-conditioned clubroom with big-screen TVs, he said. He expects a lot of new fans each game because only about 20 to 25 percent of total ticket sales will likely be season tickets, he said. And many of those season tickets will be held by companies, which will share them with employees, he added.

The stadium and the team will help revitalize Downtown, Taylor said. Besides bringing several thousand baseball fans Downtown for 72 home games, it also will have about 300 people working at the ballpark at concessions, security, parking, and other jobs for games.

The team has 21 full-time employees and eventually will have about 30. Twenty-five players will be sent by the teams' parent club, the San Diego Padres, to play here and be involved in the community, he said.

Most of all, the El Paso Chihuahuas has put El Paso on a distinct sports map, Taylor said.

"Now, we are one of only 30 cities with a Triple-A baseball team. But the other cities are state capitals or cities with NFL, NHL, and NBA teams, he noted.